Improvement in potato-diggers



* F A. DOLLOFF.

Potato-Digger. v 'NQ.152,83O Pmnted'Febfi 1 866.

a A j T E 5 J35 I, PETERS. PHOTGLITNOGRAPHER, WASHINGTON. D C.

Nrrn Tiaras ATENT QFFICE.

IMPROVEMENT IN POTATO-DIGGERS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 52,830, dated February27, 1866.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ALPHEUS DOLLOFF, of Lake Village, in the county ofBelknap and State of New Hampshire, have invented a new and ImprovedPotato-Digger; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full andexact description thereof, reference being had to theaccompanyingdrawings, making part of this specification- Figure 1 beinga top view of my improved potato-digger; Fig. 2, a central longitudinalvertical section thereof; Fig. 3, a part side view and part section ofone of the drivingwheels, the section being central and parallel withthe faces of the wheel Fig. 4, a side view of the double pinions; Fig.5, a central longitudinal section of the same.

Like letters designate corresponding parts in all of the figures.

This implement is of the class composed essentially of a blade or scoop,Gr, to pass under and. gather up the potatoes, and an endless revolvingscreen, F, which receives the potatoes and earth from the blade andseparates thelatter from the potatoes by sifting through its mesheswhile conveying the potatoes upward and backward to be deposited on theground behind the machine.

The blade having the action of a plow in its movement, the machine isdrawn by a beam or beams, A A, and guided by handles 0 O, and therevolving screen requiring rotary power to move it, driving-wheels B 13supporting the rear end of the machine are employed for the purpose. Thefront end also requires for successful operation a wheel or wheels togage the depth at which the point g of the blade shall run, and to thisend, as well as to render the motion of the machine steadier thanheretofore has been the case, I find that it effects a special purpose,particularly useful in this connection, to employ two beam s, A A,instead of one, and to apply an adjustable caster-whee1,t, under theforward end of each, the distance of the beams being such that thecaster-wheels will run between the rows, where the ground iscomparatively smooth, whereas with a single central beam it isimpossible to use a caster-wheel to run over the uneven tops of thehills and stalks of potatoes. The casters are swiveled so as to allowthem freedom of movement between the rows. With this duplicatearrangement of the beams and cast er-wheels the machine also runs muchmore steadily.

To give strength andfirmness to the beams they are connected by diagonalbrace-rods a a, as well as by direct transverse-rods q q, substantiallyas shown in Fig. 1.

The frame construction of the implement is adapted to this improvement,and, with. general purpose, lightened very much, in addition toenhancing the compactness and convenience of other operative partsthereof, by employing metallic side plates, M M, to which the beams A Aare respectively bolted,.and the handles 0 G are attached thereto. Theblade G is also secured to both of these plates by means of sideflanges, L L, which are bolted or otherwise strongly attached to theplates.

Under the rear end of the blade Gr, just forward of the revolving screenF, is a rib projection, 8, extending down as low as or lower than thescreen, and serving the purpose of a fender to protect the screen fromstones and from rubbing on the earth beneath.

The driving-wheels B B and handles 0 O are located in offsets p p of theside frameplates, M M, inside thereof. This arrangement givescompactness to the whole construction of the machine, allowing theendless revolving screen F to extend in width closely to the plates, asshown in Fig. 1, and the drivingwheels being located in the saidoffsets, their inner faces are flush with the inner faces of the platesforward of them, thereby allowing the revolving screen freedom to passbetween them and admitting of the rear part of the same to be loweredmore nearly to a level with the front part, if desired, only requiringto clear the shaft of the driving-wheels. In this case the pinions K K,which gear into the drivingwheels and transmit the motion to the endlessscreen,whose spur-wheels I I are on the pinionshaft i, are located lowerdown and farther backward, but still gear into the driving-wheels. Sincethe pinions K K gear into the peripheries of the driving-wheels toobviate the use of additional gear-wheels, and the said peripheries rollupon the ground,the latter would become clogged with earth ifconstructed in any ordinary manner and stop or impede the movement ofthe machine. This is obviated by a peculiar construction of thedrivingwheels, as follows:

Instead of gearing-teetl1, the periphery of each wheel is made withopenings d d through a rim which forms the periphery, the wheel beingopen or hollow inside, so as to have their openings at 01 extend throughthe rim and allow a free passage of anything entirely through it, asshown in Fig. 3. One face, at least, of the wheel is made open, therebeing only a flange, c, projecting inward to give the necessary strengthto the periphery. Into these openings the teeth of the pinions K K enterlike gearing, and whatever earth may have lodged in the openings as thewheels turn on the ground is immediately, at each revolution of theWheels, cleared out by the cogs of the pinions themselves.

There are the necessary spur-projections I) b on the peripheriesof thedriving-wheels K K, although the peculiar gearing construction of theperipheries, as above described, serves to produce adherence to theground, without slipping thereon, to a great extent. The pinions K Kalso have a peculiarity of construction to obviate any danger of theirteeth becoming clogged with earth. This consists in sloping the edges atthe bottom of the recesses between the cogs of the pinions outward eachway, as indicated in Fig. 5, whereby the dirt is readily cleared out bythe intermeshes of the peripheries of the drivingwheel. The pinions K Kand spur-wheels I I are connected by a tubular shaft or hub, is, as seenin Figs. 4 and 5, to take the strain from the shaft t.

Between the folds of the endless screen F, near the middle thereof, islocated, on each side of the machine, a pivoted vibrating bar, 1?, soarranged that the rounds of the upper ascending fold of the screen willstrike the upper end thereof and be raised slightly in passing over it,thereby giving a shaking motion to the screen, which facilitates theseparation of the dirt from the potatoes.

iron rods, which pass through link-plates at the end, secured on therods by heading the ends thereof. The rods form the pivots of the links,and also gear directly into the spurwheels I I, which drive them. Thefront extremity of the screen passes around the roller H.

There may be a roller on the shaft of the driving-wheels nearly as largein diameter as the wheels themselves-as large as may be withoutinterfering with the revolving screen. The use of the roller is tosmooth down the earth, so as to render the picking of the potatoes alittle more easy and convenient. A suitable fender should be placedbetween the screen and the roller, to cause the potatoes to fall back ofthe roller without fail.

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent,is-

1. The combination and arrangement of the duplicate beams A A, eachprovided with an adjustable caster-wheel, t, and the two beams beingconnected by oblique brace-rods a a, substantially as and for thepurpose herein set forth.

2. The construction of the driving-wheels B B with the gear-openings d din the peripheries thereof,in combination with the pinions K K-gearin ginto said openings, substantially as and for the purpose hereinspecified.

3. The pinions K K, when made with the sloped surfaces at the bottoms ofthe recesses between the cogs, for the purpose set forth. 7

4. The vibratory bars P I, for giving'a shaking motion to the endlessscreen, arranged and operating substantially as herein specified.

The above specification of my improved potato-digger signed by me this12th day of July, 1865.

' ALPHEUS DOLLOFF.

Witnesses:

B. J. COLE, M. O. DEXTER.

